Important Information to Consider Prior to Purchasing from KB Home

1.     KB Home is currently under investigation by the State. Click Here to READ MORE.

2.     San Antonio homeowners of KB’s Mirasol community are suing over workmanship. Click here to READ MORE.

3.     Customers of KB Home are suing due to alleged rigged appraisals and inflated prices. Click here to READ MORE.

4.     Out of town buyers without a Realtor are the preferred KB Home buyer because of their unknowingness of KB Home’s history and reputation. Especially those from California.

5.     Ask city residents and Realtors about the reputation KB Home has in this market for both construction quality and development practices. Word of mouth is sometimes the best form of advertising for the consumer because it can be the most honest and accurate.

6.     KB markets their homes as a product with a lot of “value”. Ask city residents and Realtors how a KB Home holds its value in the market place for re-sale purposes compared to other builders, especially if you are purchasing an upper end KB product

7.      Ask Realtors what challenges you might have trying to resell a KB Home prior to making your purchase.  When you resell your home you will have minimal access to the ideal KB Home buyer; out of town buyer without a Realtor.

8.     When you purchase a home, you are also buying the “reputation” of the builder. Does the builder have a reputation of “quality” like BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes? 

9.     After your KB Home is finished being built, please plan on taking off work 1-2 days per month for the first year to have defects attempted to be fixed. KB Home will give you a four hour window for arrival for the service call and this does not include repair time.

10. KB has a track record of bait and switch behavior in which KB will discontinue/downgrade collections or sell the lots to another developer. This has recently occurred throughout San Antonio in Saddle Mountain, Quarry at Iron Mountain, Trails at Herff Ranch, and Sundance Trails, Fox Grove, Mesa Creek and Auburn Hills.  KB’s pattern of behavior also extends to South Carolina & North Carolina.

11. KB Home has the potential to sell the remaining lots to another builder as they have done in the past like the neighborhood Iron Mountain Ranch. 

12. There is nothing that can stop KB from bringing in another lesser series, and they do not need a model built onsite to do so. KB has a track record to send the prospective buyer to another neighborhood for a preview.

13. No oral representations outside the contract are honored, and anything KB Home and its representatives say are not enforceable.  Therefore, it is pointless asking KB questions about the development because there is no accountability to what is presented. 

14. Realtors are free to buyers because the builder or seller pays the commissions. Seek professional advice when making the largest purchase of your life

15. If you are using a Realtor, find out if the builder is incentivizing them above the typical 3% commission that might cause them to recommend the builder over another option

16. Be careful buying a new home in an undeveloped community. The builder has full control of the HOA until 90% of the development is complete

17. Builders are not held to the same standard of disclosure that a home owner is. For instance, KB home was probably not disclosing to potential homebuyers the major foundation defects that involve 1203 Ashbury Bay in the Quarry at Iron Mountain prior to this information being made public.

18. Be cautious buying a former model home from a builder. For instance, the model at Quarry at Iron Mountain was constructed in less than 2 months from start to finish. 

QUARRY AT IRON MOUNTAIN- San Antonio, TX

19. KB Home and its employees actively tell homebuyers that homes in this neighborhood affiliated with this website are not for sale. This is not true. 

20. So far in 2009 there have been 9 documented cases of vandalism and 3 documented cases of theft in this neighborhood. 

21. Some homeowners adopted the signage “I Love My KB Home”. A select few from this group have committed the following acts against homeowners selling their homes through KBLies.com: death threats, threats to cause harm and bodily injury, vandalism, identify theft, theft, and harassment.

22. Excluding the homes under construction, there are 66 completed homes in the Quarry Iron Mountain.  However, there are currently 16 homes for sale and 11 vacant homes.  Some homes that are vacant are not for sale and never lived in because they were bought by out of town buyers that never moved in. One vacant home is currently missing the HVAC from the yard and attic, plumbing fixtures, appliances, and lighting fixtures.

23. With the higher price point of homes sold by KB in this development, please consult Realtors or native San Antonians about potential challenges trying to re-sell an upper level KB Home in the San Antonio market because of the builder’s reputation

24. Quarry Iron Mountain backs up to an active rock quarry that blasts with dynamite once weekly and produces a moderate earthquake effect in your home. 

25. The original Estate series at Quarry Iron Mountain were marketed and built to a higher standard of structural reinforcement than the typical KB Home becauseof the adjacent rock quarry dynamite blasting. Every wall had 16 inch on center studs, and additional structural support was added throughout the house. The current homes are built to the minimal building standards of 16 inch on center studs only on load bearing walls, and 24 inch on center studs for the remainder, and also lack the additional reinforcement of the original series of homes. Time will tell if these homes will be victim to the construction defects that currently plague KB homeowners like at Sundance Ridge and Sundance Trails. 

26. KB Home advertises that they are “dedicated to tree preservation”. Click here to see ADVERTISEMENT. Unfortunately, this dedication did not exist at Quarry Iron Mountain because they clear cut the remaining trees to reduce cost and increase profit. Click here for theBEFORE AND AFTER.

27. KB Home tore down most of the trees in Quarry Iron Mountain in 2008 to lower construction cost. The home sites on Andover Bay were backfilled with dirt to level them off because dirt is cheaper than concrete, is one explanation given by KB. Time will tell if the padded dirt will provide good structural support to the homes given the erosive nature of rain and the dynamite blasts from the quarry. Shifting of the padded dirt will cause shifting in the house. Click Here to READ MORE.

28. Iron Mountain Ranch is the sister neighborhood to Quarry at Iron Mountain, and this was KB Home’s first attempt to build homes in the Stone Oak area above the median price point. KB Home failed in this neighborhood, abandoned the development, and sold all of the vacant lots to Pulte.

29. Quarry at Iron Mountain has five different series of homes consisting of 34 floor plans in a neighborhood that only has 121 home sites. It has become an annual tradition to abandon collections.

30. The rate of devaluation and depreciation of homes at Quarry Iron Mountain have exceeded the city of San Antonio, and have continued to deteriorate despite the strong market of Stone Oak. The unique common factor that bonds the homes at Quarry Iron Mountain is they were all built and developed by KB Home.

31. 1203 Ashbury Bay is a current inventory home with a unique characteristic that exhibits KB Home’s structural standards. You can buy one foundation and get one free with the purchase of this home! Click Here to READ MORE.

SUNDANCE TRAILS- San Antonio, TX

32. KB Home and its employees actively tell homebuyers that homes in this neighborhood affiliated with this website are not for sale. This is not true. 

33. Approximately 10-15% of the homeowners are suffering major structural defects

34. Several homes were recently bought back by KB Home due to these defects. 

35. Homeowners have suffered up to ~22% devaluation of equity because of the actions of KB Home, while the strong market area that surrounds Sundance Trails experienced ~2.2% appreciation.

36. This neighborhood has a history of roadways crumbling and washing away, possibly because of the poor drainage

37. KB Home was not disclosing to homebuyers that the nature trail is really a Potranco Creek bed. 

38. This development was originally marketed as an “Upscale Community”. And is now being marketed to low and moderate income homebuyers. Click here for the ADVERTISEMENT.

WOODS OF ALON- San Antonio, TX

39. With the higher price point of homes sold by KB in this development, please consult Realtors or native San Antonians about potential challenges trying to re-sell an upper level KB Home in the San Antonio market because of the builder’s reputation

40. Woods of Alon is the newest KB Home community and is still on its first series of homes. With the slow sales and 98% of the community undeveloped, buyers should have a high level of concern because of the risks involved of KB discontinuing its current line, and a lower series entering this community in the near future.  

SOUTH CAROLINA – SETTLERS POINT AT LAKE MURRAY

41. The KB Homes in this development have devalued ~23-30% on a price per square foot basis from 2006-2009, while the average home values in Lexington, SC have decreased ~1% in the past 12 months.

42. There is an ongoing issue of lake access that was marketed by KB Home as being “private” to the residents of Settlers Point. However, records indicate the access is shared with the Hendrix neighborhood and the adjacent land owner of Parcel B referenced on the survey